Beverage lid apparatuses for directing scent to a user

ABSTRACT

Beverage lid apparatuses for directing scent to a user are provided. In some embodiments, a beverage lid apparatus can be configured to attach to a beverage container and, by way of a drinking aperture on the lid, direct the scent of a beverage in the beverage container to the nose of a user when the user drinks from the drinking aperture. For example, the size and shape of the drinking aperture can be configured to allow scent from the beverage container to pass through the drinking aperture and above the flow of the beverage, upward into the nose of the user when the user drinks from the drinking aperture. In some embodiments, a beverage lid apparatus can further include a sliding cover configured to prevent spillage and/or contain heat and/or aroma.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/483,058, filed Apr. 10, 2017, which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/879,879, filed Oct. 9, 2015, each of which ishereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The disclosed subject matter relates to a beverage lid apparatuses thatdirect the scent of a beverage to a user.

BACKGROUND

Many beverages have scents that are pleasing to smell and significantlycontribute to the flavor of the beverage. Frequently, these beveragesare served hot, or consumed while travelling. As a result, it isincreasingly popular to consume these beverages via a lidded beveragecontainer. However, many of these lids limit the consumer's ability tosmell their beverage while drinking it, limiting the consumer'senjoyment of the beverage.

Accordingly, it is desirable to provide new beverage lid apparatuses fordirecting the scent of a beverage to a user.

SUMMARY

Beverage lid apparatuses for directing scent to a user are provided. Inaccordance with some embodiments of the disclosed subject matter,beverage lid apparatuses for directing scent to a user are provided, thebeverage lid apparatuses configured to cover a beverage container andcomprising: a lid body comprising: a rim disposed along the edge of thelid body and shaped such as to allow the rim to make continuous contactwith the beverage container; an upper surface having a drinkingaperture; and a well wall disposed on the upper surface and protrudingupward from the upper surface, wherein the well wall is positioned andshaped such as to surround at least a portion of the drinking aperturesuch that a user can drink a liquid passing through the drinkingaperture by contacting a portion of the well wall with the mouth of theuser, and wherein the drinking aperture is configured to direct scentoriginating from a beverage in the beverage container to the nose of theuser upon the user positioning the beverage lid apparatus in proximityto the mouth of the user; and a sliding cover positioned within theperimeter of the well wall and attached to the lid body such as to allowa user to move the sliding cover from a first position to a secondposition, wherein the sliding cover blocks the drinking aperture when inthe first position and allows a user to drink from the drinking aperturewhen in the second position.

In accordance with some embodiments of the disclosed subject matter, thedrinking aperture is of a size and a shape such as to allow a user toadd a substance to the beverage through the drinking aperture when thesliding cover is in the second position.

In accordance with some embodiments of the disclosed subject matter, thewell wall has a height and shape such as to contain liquid escapingthrough the drinking aperture to the upper surface of the lid body.

In accordance with some embodiments of the disclosed subject matter, thelid body further comprises a ventilation hole positioned such that theventilation hole is not covered by the sliding cover when the slidingcover is in the first position or in the second position.

In accordance with some embodiments of the disclosed subject matter, thewell wall protrudes far enough upward from the upper surface such as toallow a user to drink a liquid passing through the drinking aperture bycontacting a portion of the well wall with the mouth of the user whilenot making contact with the drinking aperture.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various objects, features, and advantages of the disclosed subjectmatter can be more fully appreciated with reference to the followingdetailed description of the disclosed subject matter when considered inconnection with the following drawings, in which like reference numeralsidentify like elements.

FIG. 1A shows a top view of an example of a beverage lid apparatushaving a sliding cover that is in an open position in accordance withsome embodiments of the disclosed subject matter.

FIG. 1B shows a top view of an example of a beverage lid apparatushaving a sliding cover that is in a closed position in accordance withsome embodiments of the disclosed subject matter.

FIG. 1C shows a cross-sectional view of the cross-section 1C-1C shown inFIG. 1B of an example of a beverage lid apparatus having a sliding coverthat is in a closed position in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosed subject matter.

FIG. 1D shows another cross-sectional view of the cross-section 1D-1Dshown in FIG. 1B of an example of a beverage lid apparatus in accordancewith some embodiments of the disclosed subject matter.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In accordance with various embodiments of the disclosed subject matter,beverage lid apparatuses that direct the scent of a beverage to a userare provided.

In some embodiments of the disclosed subject matter, a beverage lidapparatus can attach to a beverage container and, by way of a drinkingaperture on the lid, direct the scent of a beverage in the beveragecontainer to the nose of a user when the user drinks from the drinkingaperture. For example, in some embodiments, a beverage lid apparatus canbe attached to a coffee cup and upon a user bringing the beverage lidapparatus to his or her lips, the coffee can pass through the drinkingaperture into the mouth of the user. Simultaneously, due to the size andshape of the drinking aperture, the scent from the coffee stillcontained in the coffee cup can pass through the drinking aperture,above the flow of coffee, and upward into the nose of the user.

In some embodiments, a beverage lid apparatus can include a slidingcover. The sliding cover can, for example, be moved from a closedposition to an open position. When in the closed position, the slidingcover can block the drinking aperture, containing the liquid, scent,and/or heat of a beverage in the beverage container. When in the openposition, the sliding cover can allow a user to drink and/or smell abeverage from the drinking aperture.

In some embodiments, the beverage lid apparatus can include a well wallthat can contain liquid that comes up through the drinking aperture orthrough a ventilation hole when the user is not drinking, and preventthat liquid from spilling. For example, to continue the scenario of acoffee cup described above, a portion of coffee can escape through aventilation hole of the beverage lid apparatus (e.g., when a usertravels with the coffee cup) and rather than spilling onto the user, canbe contained within the confines of the well wall.

Turning to FIGS. 1A, 1B, 1C, and 1D, an example 100 of a beverage lidapparatus that directs the scent of a beverage to a user in accordancewith some embodiments of the disclosed subject matter is shown. Asillustrated, in some embodiments, beverage lid apparatus 100 can includea rim 102, a sliding cover 104, a ventilation hole 106, a well wall 108,a drinking aperture 110, a well area 112, and an upper surface 114.

In some embodiments, any of the elements of beverage lid apparatus 100can be made from any suitable material. For example, beverage lidapparatus 100 can be made from plastic, aluminum, ceramics, any othersuitable material, and/or a combination thereof.

Rim 102 can be any suitable rim. In some embodiments, rim 102 can beconfigured to allow a user to attach beverage lid apparatus 100 to abeverage container by placing rim 102 in continuous contact with abeverage container and applying pressure to rim 102 in order to fit orsnap into place.

Sliding cover 104 can be any suitable sliding cover. In someembodiments, sliding cover 104 can be attached to the beverage lidapparatus such that a user can move the sliding cover from a positionthat blocks drinking aperture 110 (a “closed position”) to a positionthat does not block drinking aperture 110 (an “open position”), and/orto any position in between (e.g., a “partially open position”). Forexample, as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, sliding cover 104 can beconfigured to have straight or substantially straight sides and a widthappropriate to fit between the sides of well wall 108 such that slidingcover 104 can slide between the sides of well wall 108, and/or move inany other suitable direction or fashion. In such an example, asillustrated in FIG. 1D, well wall 108 can have sides that are flat,parallel, substantially flat, substantially parallel, and/or any othersuitable shape and configuration. To continue the example, slide track116, as also shown in FIG. 1D, can be configured to guide sliding cover104 between an open position and a closed position.

In some embodiments, sliding cover 104, well wall 108, drinking aperture110, and slide track 116 can be configured to allow a user to movesliding cover 104 in a partially open position that prevents spillage.For example, a partially open position can block a portion of drinkingaperture 110 that is large enough to allow the user to drink from thedrinking aperture, but not large enough to allow liquid to spill overthe lips of the user.

In some embodiments, sliding cover 104, well wall 108, well area 112,and slide track 116 can be configured such that at least a portion ofsliding cover 104 sits flatly upon well area 112, using any suitableconfiguration. For example, well area 112 can have a flat orsubstantially flat upper surface and sliding cover 104 can have a flator substantially flat lower surface such that sliding cover 104 can restflatly upon well area 112, as shown in FIGS. 1C and 1D. As anotherexample, sliding cover 104 can have a concave lower surface and wellarea 112 can have a convex upper surface. As yet another example,sliding cover 104 and well area 112 can have a tongue and grooveconfiguration with sliding cover 104 having one or more tongues that fitinto one or more grooves in well area 112 and/or vice versa.

In some embodiments, sliding cover 104 can be configured to blockdrinking aperture 110 when in a closed position using any suitableconfiguration. For example, sliding cover 104 can have a size and shapelarge enough to cover drinking aperture 110 such as to block air, water,and/or other substances from escaping. As a more particular example,drinking aperture 110 can be one inch long and 0.5 inches wide whilesliding cover 104 can be 1.1 inches long and 0.6 inches wide, and/or anyother suitable dimensions. Additionally or alternatively, the lowersurface of sliding cover 104 can have a contour that substantiallymatches the contour of well area 112 such that the lower surface ofsliding cover 104 can sit flush with well area 112 at the edges ofdrinking aperture 110 such that there is no clearance between slidingcover 104 and well area 112 when sliding cover 104 is in the closedposition.

In some embodiments, sliding cover 104 can have any suitable shape. Forexample, as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, sliding cover 104 can have edgesthat substantially match the shape of well wall 108 on one or moresides. As a more particular example, as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B,sliding cover 104 can have a curved front edge such that sliding cover104 can sit flush or substantially flush with a curved well wall 108.

In some embodiments, sliding cover 104 can be configured to hold itsposition relative to drinking aperture 110 such that sliding cover 104will not move without a user applying force to the cover, using anysuitable configuration. For example, sliding cover 104 can include aprotrusion on its lower surface such that when sliding cover 104 ismoved to a closed position, the protrusion will fit and/or snap into adepression in the upper surface of well area 112. As another example,sliding cover 104 can include a material associated with a relativelyhigh coefficient of friction such that sliding cover 104 can slide lesseasily against well wall 108 and/or well area 112. As a more particularexample, the lower surface of sliding cover 104 can be made from orcoated with rubber, plastic, polystyrene, and/or any other material witha relatively high coefficient of friction. As yet another example,sliding cover 104 can include a protrusion on the front edge and/or therear edge of its upper surface and/or its lower surface such that whensliding cover 104 is moved into an open position and/or a closedposition, the protrusion can fit and/or snap into a depression in wellwall 108.

In some embodiments, sliding cover 104, ventilation hole 106, and wellwall 108 can be configured such that ventilation hole 106 remainsunblocked or substantially unblocked by sliding cover 104 regardless ofthe position of sliding cover 104. For example, as shown in FIGS. 1A and1B, sliding cover 104 can have a straight rear edge, well wall 108 canhave a curved rear portion, and ventilation hole 106 can be located onwell area 112 in the region between the straight rear edge of slidingcover 104 and the curved rear portion of well wall 108. In someembodiments, ventilation hole 106 can be blocked when sliding cover 104is in an open position, and unblocked when sliding cover 104 is inanother position.

In some embodiments, well wall 108 and well area 112 can be configuredsuch that liquid escaping through ventilation hole 106 and/or drinkingaperture 110 will be held in well area 112 and/or drain through drinkingaperture 110 rather than spill onto a user using any suitableconfiguration. For example, well wall 108 can have a continuous shapethat protrudes upward from the upper surface of beverage lid apparatus100. As a more particular example, as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, wellwall 108 can have a shape that is semi-circular in its front and rearportions and substantially straight in its sides.

In some embodiments, a portion of well wall 108 can protrude far enoughupward such as to allow a user to drink a beverage from an attachedbeverage container by placing the user's mouth on the well wall withoutmaking contact with the drinking aperture. For example, well wall 108can protrude far enough upward, at a portion of well wall 108 that is inproximity to drinking aperture 110, such that upon a user contacting theportion of well wall 108 with the mouth of the user and tilting thebeverage container and beverage lid apparatus, the beverage will flowthrough drinking aperture 110 onto well wall 108 before making contactwith the mouth of the user.

In some embodiments, drinking aperture 110 can be configured to directthe scent of a beverage into the nose of a user when the user positionsthe beverage lid apparatus, when attached to a beverage containercontaining the beverage, near the mouth of the user using any suitableconfiguration. For example, drinking aperture 110 can have a length(i.e., the length from the front rim of the aperture to the rear rim ofthe aperture) that is large enough to allow a portion of the drinkingaperture to be uncovered when a user places his or her mouth against theaperture in order to drink the beverage. As another example, drinkingaperture 110 can have a width that is large enough to allow the scent ofthe beverage, upon a user positioning the beverage lid apparatus inproximity to the mouth of the user, to pass through the drinkingaperture and rise directly upward into one or both nostrils of theuser's nose.

In some embodiments, upper surface 114 can extend above rim 102,relative to an attached beverage container, in order to create a cavitybeneath beverage lid apparatus 100 and over the attached beveragecontainer. For example, upper surface 114 can be high enough above rim102 such as to allow a user to place a substantially solid substanceand/or a substantially viscous substance (e.g., whipped cream) on top ofa beverage in the beverage container while still allowing a user toattach beverage lid apparatus 100 to the beverage container.

In some embodiments, at least some of the above described parts of thebeverage lid apparatus of FIGS. 1A-1D can be omitted.

Although the invention has been described and illustrated in theforegoing illustrative embodiments, it is understood that the presentdisclosure has been made only by way of example, and that numerouschanges in the details of implementation of the invention can be madewithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, which islimited only by the claims that follow. Features of the disclosedembodiments can be combined and rearranged in various ways.

What is claimed is:
 1. A beverage lid apparatus for covering a beveragecontainer, the beverage lid apparatus comprising: a lid body comprising:a rim having an upper surface and disposed along the edge of the lidbody and shaped such as to allow the rim to make continuous contact withthe beverage container; an upper surface having a drinking aperture,wherein the upper surface is substantially planar and located at theupper surface of the rim; and a well wall disposed on the upper surface,protruding upward from the upper surface, having a top portion that ishigher than the upper surface of the rim, being separate from the rim,wherein the well wall is positioned and shaped such as to surround atleast a portion of the drinking aperture such that a user can drink aliquid passing through the drinking aperture by contacting a portion ofthe well wall with the mouth of the user, and wherein the drinkingaperture is configured to direct scent originating from a beverage inthe beverage container to the nose of the user upon the user positioningthe beverage lid apparatus in proximity to the mouth of the user, andwherein the top portion of the well wall forms a highest surface of thelid body; and a cover positioned on the upper surface such as to allow auser to move the cover from a first position to a second position,wherein the cover blocks the drinking aperture when in the firstposition and allows a user to drink from the drinking aperture when inthe second position, and wherein the top surface is below the topportion of the well wall.
 2. The beverage lid apparatus of claim 1,wherein the drinking aperture is of a size and a shape such as to allowa user to add a substance to the beverage through the drinking aperturewhen the cover is in the second position.
 3. The beverage lid apparatusof claim 1, wherein the well wall has a height and a shape such as tocontain liquid escaping through the drinking aperture to the uppersurface of the lid body.
 4. The beverage lid apparatus of claim 1,wherein the lid body further comprises a ventilation hole positionedsuch that the ventilation hole is not covered by the cover when thecover is in the first position or in the second position.
 5. Thebeverage lid apparatus of claim 1, wherein the well wall protrudes farenough upward from the upper surface such as to allow a user to drink aliquid passing through the drinking aperture by contacting a portion ofthe well wall with the mouth of the user while not making contact withthe drinking aperture.
 6. The beverage lid apparatus of claim 1, whereinthe lid body further comprises a ventilation hole positioned such thatthe ventilation hole is not covered by the cover when the cover is inthe first position and the ventilation hole is covered by the cover whenthe cover is in the second position.